


the very witching time job

by Arithanas



Category: Leverage
Genre: Candy, Cooking, Eliot's in the kitchen so..., Gen, Halloween, Halloween parties, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-08-08 06:38:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16424315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arithanas/pseuds/Arithanas
Summary: The bar is hosting a Halloween party and they are bereft of treats.





	the very witching time job

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dreamerfound](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamerfound/gifts).



“Dammit, Hardison!”

“Eliot, hey, man, please don’t—” Alec began, but Eliot slid over the counter of the brewery before Alec could say another word.

With a sigh, Alec followed him to the kitchen, wondering what had Eliot so upset. Eliot Spencer was usually the most even-tempered man in the city—in whichever city he managed to be in.

“I don’t have time to hear explanations!” The black apron was already around Eliot's slim hips. He played with a knife with one hand while he rummaged through the industrial kitchen. Finally he stepped back from the freezer with several sticks of butter cradled against his chest, and pointed the knife at Alec.“And if you say another world, I’ll skip the niceties!”

Alec raised both hands and kept away. His favorite hitter was not a man to trifle with under stress. However, it was fun to watch Eliot using his combat speed in the kitchen. Alec leaned against the wall and let his eyebrows rise to signal his interest.

Eliot huffed and tossed the butter into a microwave-safe bowl. He bent over to pick up a can of condensed milk, stabbed two holes in it, and used one hand to tie his hair back while holding the can over the butter with the other.

“Hey,” Alec ventured again, only to be cut off.

“Shut up and pass the cocoa!”

Alec passed the industrial-size cocoa can they kept around for hot chocolate, not that their patrons asked for it often.

“You put us on the spot with the Girl Scouts' moms.” Eliot sounded bitter as he poured cocoa over the mixture.

“How do you know they're—” Alec started to ask, but of course Eliot knew. Eliot had only seen Mrs. Selkirk through the window for the three seconds as she started gathering the kids next to Parker, who was playing hostess for the day, but it was enough.

“That was a very distinctive hand signal!” Eliot said, jumping to reach the ventilation grill.

“That’s Parker’s stash,” Alec warned.

“And you are raiding it,” Eliot rebuked. With a deft hand he pulled out a bag of chocolate chips.

“Uh-uh, not me!”

“Yes, you!” Half of the chocolate chips went in the bowl. Eliot started whisking furiously. “Why didn’t you warn me the ‘event’ was a Halloween party?” For any other man, it would be a miracle to whisk at that speed without splashing; for Eliot Spencer, it was par for the course. “A Halloween party for the local Girl Scout troop!”

“Because we booked it last March.” Alec watched, amused, as Eliot checked the mixture. “I kind of forgot, man.”

“You kind of forgot—” Eliot put the bowl in their industrial microwave and nuked it briefly. “—you are hosting the party—” The microwave pinged and Eliot took the bowl and whisked it some more. “—for the _daughters_ of the local _trade association_!”

Alec looked meekly at Eliot while the mixture was heating again.

“Good thing Parker is so into holidays—” The microwave pinged again, drowning out the sound of the last word, and Eliot went for another round of furious mixing. “The bar looks like a regular haunted house.” He put the bowl back in the microwave and slammed the door closed to punctuate his frustration.

“We have popcorn, burgers, and soda for everyone!”

“And what about treats!” It wasn't a question. “You can’t have a Halloween party without treats, Hardison!”

Out the mixture came, and Eliot attacked it with a globe whisk again. This time his speed was greatly reduced.

“I’ll run to Megamart and get a bulk candy bag.”

“We have a bulk candy bag here.” Eliot poured the silky brown mixture into a battered baking tray. “We call it Parker’s stash.”

“Eliot, my man, you love to live dangerously, don’t you?”

“But we can’t give the girls Parker’s stash!”

“Because it’s Parker’s?”

“Because it’s cheap!” Eliot was spreading the mixture with an almost defeated expression. He was quaking—positively quaking—in his boots. “This is a no-expenses-spared party. We can’t toss a bunch of _generic_ ,” Eliot almost spat the word, “candy at the people we want to impress!”

Eliot stared at the candy in the pan with a vacant, haunted look. He had frozen in place. That was a bad sign.

Alec heard the kids laughing at the other side of the door; Parker was the loudest. The party was going well and here was one of the most dangerous men in the world having a mental breakdown over some high-end candy he was making from scratch. Alec knew better than to laugh.

“What’s the problem now, man?”

“Our freezer will take almost an hour to get these brigadeiros set!”

Time was the only foe Eliot Spencer could never beat. Alec nodded and then signaled Eliot to move away from the counter. Eliot obliged almost begrudgingly. Alec bent and opened the bottom drawer to reveal the freeze gun he got for himself after the job at the culinary kitchen school institute.

“Age of the geek, bro,” Alec said with a smug smile.

“How long?” The spark had returned to Eliot’s eyes.

“Five minutes, give or take.”

“Time enough to get sprinkles!”

Alec smiled as Eliot bolted out of the kitchen. For a man with such complex interests, Eliot was so easy to please. With a big grin, Alec pointed the gun at the mixture.

The first signal of Eliot’s return was another baking tray banging against the counter. A torrent of green, orange, black, and white sprinkles followed, and then Eliot’s voice barking orders again.

Fifteen minutes later, Parker yelled “Lock your windows, bolt the door; monster season's here once more!” as she pushed open the kitchen door. Her surgical nurse costume was splattered with fake blood. At least, Alec hoped it was fake blood.

Eliot spared her a look, but both of his hands were busy rolling a couple of candies in the sprinkles.

“‘Sup, babe?” Alec asked, putting a finished candy in the nifty Halloween bags Eliot had brought along with the sprinkles. The party favors were almost done.

“The girls are telling scary stories and I was wondering where you went,” Parker said. Her eyes fell on the piece of chocolate temptation Eliot had put on the counter. “Chocolate!”

She brought down her hand. Eliot blocked it. She tried again. Eliot put out another candy and then he had to block both Parker’s hands. To cut the fight short, Alec picked up both candies and put them in a bag.

“The kids first,” Eliot said once temptation was out of the way. “And whatever remains, it’s yours.”

“OK!” Parker agreed and skipped back from the counter. “We're bobbing for apples in a bit.”

“We’ll be there!” Alec promised, but the batch of the chilled mixture didn't seem to be dwindling.

“Go with her, man,” Eliot said, rolling candies without any sign of tiredness. “I can finish here alone.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, but first...” Eliot wiped his hands on a clean rag before picking up something else from the brown grocery bag and tossing it in Alec’s general direction. “Put these in Parker’s stash.”

Alec caught it before noticing what it was. The bag of chocolate chips warmed his heart for no specific reason, and he patted Eliot’s back on his way to the ventilation grill. The bag was put among the others without a fuss. Then Alec turned and hugged Eliot from behind.

The great Eliot Spencer was caught flat-footed. Alec felt him go stiff for a second, with his shoulders rolled back as if he was ready to throw a punch, but he relaxed after a moment.

“Thank you for thinking of everything,” he whispered into Eliot’s ear.

“That’s what I do,” Eliot said. He patted Alec's arm with the back of his hand, holding a half-formed chocolate ball. “Now, get out of my kitchen!”


End file.
